Thanksgiving and Our First Snowfall

Every year the Woolley family is thankful and amazed by how well God looks over us. This year is no exception. We have again been provided with good friends right here in our neighborhood. The family who shares the house with us is American/Brazilian- (Monica, Nicco and their children, Lorenzo, Camilla and Santi). We pooled our resources in our tiny kitchens to pulled off a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner. The kids couldn't have been happier with snow that didn't stop. There was barely time for them to decorate a few cookies and eat some turkey! When it was time for pie, another wonderful American family joined us-- Amy and Ross Bell and their three kids, Elise, Sydney and Charlie. We were so sedated from the turkey that I guess we forgot to take a picture of them!! Will add one later, I promise.

Part of the Trowbridge Family Makes a Visit

My dear friend, Michelle and Kate's best buddy, Avery (from Dubai) traveled to see us over Eid. Kate and Avery were out of their minds with excitement. There were a few days when the girls had school so Michelle and I took Avery out for some 'home school' trips. She was happy to be with us, but kept asking how much longer until we could pick up Anna and Kate? Kate was not feeling well one day and Avery was happy to stay at home with Kate (squeeeeellllll). But our most memorable day was our trip to the Chamonix ski area in France. The kids had a blast playing in the snow at the top of the lift. It's been a long time since any of our kids have seen snow like this! It was a really, really nice reunion and very difficult to see them go.

A Good Old Halloween in Switzerland

What can we say? It was just like home. The neighborhood rallied. Do you think it was just for us? :) Look at all the great looking kids Anna and Kate have to play with on a daily basis! 

Grandma Jean and Grandpa Bill Visit!

Oh, we had so much fun showing Grandma and Grandpa around! Actually Bill knew more about our region than we did, so I am not sure who did the showing . . . . Anyway, we took some lovely day trips to the Chamonix ski area in France to see the glaciers and snow. We ferried across Lake Geneva to the cutest little French town called Yvoire. We also visited two impressive castles: Gruyere and Chillion. We  visited city of Lausanne and Jean and Bill explored Geneva on their own one day. They even were here for Halloween and helped us hand out the candy! And the best part was that Anna and Kate's Fall break fell during their visit so they got to spend a lot of time with them. We are trying to convince them to return again this Spring. We love when family comes to visit!

First Day of School

The girls attend an international school called College du Leman. It's a short drive from our home in the town of Versoix. We sure have been blessed with good teachers and this year is the same. Anna is in 3rd grade with Mrs. Valentine and Kate is in 1st grade with Ms. Karen. The curriculum is very similar to our curriculum in Dubai except that they get French language lessons instead of Arabic. I think they are finding French to come a bit more quickly! They've made friends quickly and are settling in nicely.

Unpacking Surprises

"Why. . . why they do this? Why put this on outside? Why not crate it? Everything from the US same, same," plus more Albanian expletives that we don't want to publish! This table that we bought in Jordan has a long story that we could tell you when you have the time. Let's just say that it cost us more to arrive  in Switzerland than it cost us to purchase, but we LOVE it and it reminds us of a country that we adore.

Our First Visitors- The Stover Family!!

We were so thrilled to have the Stover's visit us on route back to Dubai from the States. We had been in our house only one week, had only sparse rental furniture, but couldn't have been happier to see good friends that remind us of our Dubai 'home'. No kitchen cooking necessary when you have a fondue pot! That, after the girls enjoyed a cool dip in Lake Geneva. Can you come back again next fall?

We call Switzerland Home

Our new home is about 20k from Geneva heading north on Lake Geneva, situated between our small town, Crans Pres Celigny and a larger town, Nyon. We are just a few minutes walk from the lake and on a clear day we can see Mt. Blanc from our bedroom window. This is a picture of the front of our house, the port just across the street, and a view from the top of the town of Nyon. We are enjoying the change of scenery and are astounded by the beauty of this country.  C'est the belle vie, huh?